Your misogyny isn’t a joke to me

I’ve seen how easy it is for misogyny to hide in plain sight online; it doesn’t always look extreme, and most of us probably don’t even realise what we’re exposed to is sometimes rooted in misogyny, which is the scariest part.  

The ‘funny’ joke that goes unchallenged on social media, the negative comments that are public facing, or algorithms that quietly amplify the same harmful ideas over and over are contributing to a toxic culture where disrespect towards women and girls feels normal, and boys are punished for not fitting rigid, outdated stereotypes. 

The thing about online misogyny is that it doesn’t just stay online

What happens online shapes how people think, speak, and behave offline. I have a younger sister, and like any older sibling, I want her to feel safe, respected, and free to be herself without compromise.  

The unfortunate reality is what we see online and offline steers towards a judgemental, unsafe, and belittling culture for women and girls. And don’t get me wrong, we’ve come leaps and bounds in gender equality in recent years, but harmful norms are still engrained in our societal discourse and they’re transforming within the online space into a new wave of the same old rhetoric. 

Being part of a generation that has grown up with the internet, I think we have a responsibility to question the norm and push for something better. For me, this is about highlighting the issue at hand, advocating for greater understanding of the problem, challenging the harmful norms, and working towards practical solutions that actually address the issues that people are seeing on social media and beyond.

Being part of Call It What It Is makes me feel like I have a voice and I want to use it make strides in the right direction, so young girls and boys aren’t facing the same issues in years to come. 

Why we need to change attitudes 

Growing up as a girl in this day and age, the impact of misogyny can feel personal and long-lasting. It can affect confidence, self-worth, and the view of our place in the world. 

When negative messages are repeated enough, they can start to feel like expectations – for example, how people should look, dress, act, or be treated. It also creates a culture where harmful behaviours are dismissed or minimised, and we’re just supposed to put up with this as a condition to life. That silence and acceptance is what allows harms to continue to grow. 

We need to change attitudes because laws and rules can only go so far if the underlying mindset doesn’t change. Positive progress will come from people rethinking what they consider acceptable, calling out harmful behaviour, and choosing to act differently. This will hopefully create a culture where respect is expected both online and offline. 

How we should be challenging toxic behaviour 

I want to see a shift from normalisation to appropriate challenge and accountability. A lot of harmful attitudes towards women and girls, and harmful stereotypes of men and boys are brushed off as ‘jokes’, trends, or just part of our culture, making it easy for misogyny to subtly spread without being challenged. I’d love to see these behaviours actively called out and taken seriously, rather than ignored or excused. 

One way this could happen is through making online platforms safer, especially for young people. It feels like there’s constant exposure to degrading comments, unrealistic expectations, and content that reinforces harmful stereotypes which isn’t helpful for anyone. It’s astounding that this is something we’re just supposed to put up with. I’d like to see stronger moderation, clearer consequences for harmful behaviour, and more responsibility taken by platforms to protect their users. 

I’d also love to see more positive representation and education on social media. Social media’s reach is huge, and this should be used to promote respect, equality, and healthy attitudes towards men and women, rather than trying to drag people down. If young people are seeing better examples of how to treat others, this can start to reshape our culture over time. 

We need more young people speaking out about misogyny 

It’s important that we call out misogyny because we’re the ones most directly experiencing online culture. We’re constantly interacting with social media, group chats, and online communities, giving us a unique understanding of how misogyny shows up, how it spreads, and how it actually affects people our age.

We can make conversations more realistic and the solutions more relevant. We can highlight things that might otherwise be dismissed as ‘jokes’ or trends that actually have a harmful wider impact. This is necessary for policy makers and platform companies to understand, so we can make positive progress on the issues we’re currently facing.  

I also think youth voice is important because of the power we have to influence other young people. Change is often more effective when it comes from peers rather than strangers or people in power. When young people speak out, challenge harmful behaviour, and model respect, it can shift what’s considered normal within our own spaces and work towards changing attitudes on a community level.  

Ultimately, if the goal is to create safer, more respectful online and offline environments for the next generation, then our generation needs to be at the centre of the conversation.